27th August riding home about 4.30pm on a nice sunny day. Travelling along a dual carriageway (2 lanes in each direction separated by a central grass verge about one lane wide). In front on me is a car which pulls out to overtake a large French truck that is going slow. I am going no more than 30mph. I look over my shoulder (to check traffic behind) indicate and also start to move out.
Suddenly to truck veers out, cuts in front of the car, carries across the outside lane and grass verge and (can you believe it!) executes a 'U'turn. The car screeches to an emergency stop, I do the same, but I am not quite going straight. The back wheel slides away and so does the bike. I part company with the bike and hit the ground with my knee, chest and head.
The truck does not even stop, but fortunately the car behind me does. We wait for the services to attend. The result? I have two broken ribs, bruised lung and a shattered knee which is going to need a total metal replacement.
The bike doesn't look too bad. Apart from a broken screen and front fender, it seems mostly minor scratches to the crash bars and hard bags - even though the bike apparently made contact with the car.
But what really upsets me......the Police have said that even though the truck (a) executed an illegal maneuver and (b) failed to stop, as the truck is now back in France, there is nothing they can do to pursue the driver, or find out who the registered owner of the vehicle is!!!! With the number of foreign vehicles we have on the roads here in the UK, I just wonder how many times something like this happens.
I have spent the last three weeks in hospital thinking about this incident and why it happened. I am pretty convinced that the truck was driving slow because he had taken a wrong turn and his Sat Nav was telling him to turn around. Being a foreign truck the driver is on the wrong side of his vehicle for our roads. As both the car and myself were pulling out to pass we were probably in his blind spot. But....did I hit the brakes too hard? Did my braking lock-up the back wheel? Could I have done something else to avoid the crash? At least in my mind the answer to the last question is 'no'. There was no avoiding action I could take as the truck covered both lanes and the grass verge (so there was nowhere to go). If I hadn't tried to brake as hard as I did I would have hit the back of the car, which would have been far worse injury wise.
Fortunately I always ride with the right gear and what has surprised me is that there is no damage to my jacket or trousers (both FXRG) - not even abrasive scratches, although the lining in the shoulder of the jacket has a friction tear. No damage to boots, although gloves are severely scratched. The main damage is to the helmet and visor which have taken a real beating - but obviously prevented any injury to me.
So brothers what is the lesson? Trucks go slow for a reason - if you are following one be careful - and if it is foreign, expect the unexpected!
Magellan
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